The Tigers matched the Crimson goal-for-goal in the second quarter, but just before the half, Princeton broke away with two unanswered goals to take a 7-5 lead, an advantage it didn’t relinquish.

Balding and Hong each found the net once during the third frame, and Hong scored the lone Harvard goal in the final quarter on a penalty shot, but their efforts were not enough to close the gap.

“I told the girls this didn’t define our season,” Minnis said. “We play Princeton at Michigan in….April and we’ll get another crack at them.”

HARVARD 17, MERCYHURST 4

Ten different players tallied goals for the Crimson, and a dominating first frame, in which it scored seven unanswered goals, sparked Harvard to a 13-goal victory over Mercyhurst.

Hendrix, Martinelli, Strutner, Lobato, and Hong all contributed to the offensive surge that pushed the Crimson to an early 7-0 lead.

“We came out really aggressive…. and with that attacking mentality,” Harrington said. “We wanted to make the other team react to us and I think we did a really good job of that.”

Freshman Colby Stapleton led Harvard in the second quarter with three goals. Andersen and Hong also each scored a goal to bring the Crimson to a 12-1 advantage at the half, setting Harvard up to maintain a decisive lead throughout the rest of the game.